The Wise Men

Six Friends and the World They Made

By: Evan Thomas, Walter Isaacson

Narrated by: Jonathan Reese

Length: 33 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Six close friends shaped the role their country would play in the dangerous years following World War II. They were the original best and brightest, whose towering intellects, outsize personalities, and dramatic actions would bring order to the postwar chaos, and whose strong response to Soviet expansionism would leave a legacy that dominates American policy to this day.

In April 1945, they converged to advise an untutored new president, Harry Truman. They were Averell Harriman, the freewheeling diplomat and Roosevelt’s special envoy to Churchill and Stalin; Dean Acheson, the secretary of state who was more responsible for the Truman Doctrine than Truman and for the Marshall Plan than General Marshall; George Kennan, self-cast outsider and intellectual darling of the Washington elite; Robert Lovett, assistant secretary of war, undersecretary of state, and secretary of defense throughout the formative years of the Cold War; John McCloy, one of the nation’s most influential private citizens; and Charles Bohlen, adroit diplomat and ambassador to the Soviet Union.

Together they formulated a doctrine of Communist containment that was to be the foundation of American policy, and years later, when much of what they stood for appeared to be sinking in the mire of Vietnam, they were summoned for their steady counsel. It was then that they were dubbed “the Wise Men.” Working in an atmosphere of trust that in today’s Washington would seem quaint, they shaped a new world order that committed a once-reticent nation to defending freedom wherever it sought to flourish.

©2012 Walter Isaacson and E. Thomas (P)2013 Random House Audio

Great book, awful pronunciation

How it’s possible to find a narrator who can’t pronounce the most basic words properly — or find a producer who can’t help — would be funny if the subject matter weren’t so interesting.

amazing historical biography

fantastic inside view of US place in 20th century world history, focusing these incredible decision makers.

Disappointed: Couldn't Get Passed the Narrator

This book sounds incredibly interesting and I love Walter Isaacson's works, but I could not get passed the first chapter because of the narrator. His performance was slow, boring, and hesitant with a bunch of mispronunciations.

It was tough getting through the over pronunciation of every word and every "a" pronounced "ā", but I had to stop when he pronounced Joseph Stalin as Joseph Stalēn. Come on!

Very disappointing it since I really rely on audiobooks during my commute to and from work.

Fallout fans: Watch how we get into nukes.

A very interesting inner look into the pathway America took between WWII and the nuclear age...and the personalities who guided us there.

Enlightening

This was a great followup to Winston and Churchill in the post war government and world relations.

Note to authors: Hire an actor to read your book

The content is excellent, and kept me reading even with the pedantic reading by Mr. Reese. I don't know where he learned to speak - Stalin and Lenin are not pronounced Sta-leen and Lin-een in any country or dialect on earth, that I could find through Google search. I also googled Mr. Reese and will never, ever buy another book he narrates. It was so annoying, like a burr in my sock.

That being said, I wish I had bought the book and read it instead of listening to this one and wasting my credit. I love Walter Isaacson's writing and would read little red riding hood again if he wrote it. This book wove together for my understanding both distant and nearer history that had never been connected for me before. A thorough and intelligent viewing of our country's leaders and their assistants was illuminating.

Excellent text marred by robotic interpretation.

A milestone for both the authors and the public.

Reese's reading is dull and stiff, and while almost 1960's straight white-guy-anachronistic, his perfectly modulated enunciation often sounds inhuman - like a text/voice synthesizer.

Numerous very odd mispronunciations.

For example, pejorative, which Reese pronounces PEEjurative ?!

It's p'JORative.

Detracts terribly from the experience. Please do this again with a reader who knows English.

A lot to cover in one book

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes because I learned a lot. This book filled in some gaps in my knowledge the Wise Men.

If you’ve listened to books by Evan Thomas and Walter Isaacson before, how does this one compare?

No

Did The Wise Men inspire you to do anything?

It found the narration both annoying and humorous. I didn't realize I'd been pronouncing Staleen's name wrong all this time.

Excellent perspective

A terrific overview of the dynamics that have shaped the world as we know it today. From the 1930,s to the end of the Vietnam war, it nicely lays down the basic diplomatic approaches taken by the best diplomats of the time.

Annoying performance

It seems like the authors found one of those schoolmasters from 19th century Groton to read this fine work. One who taught elocution. His pedantic, arcane pronunciations distract from the narrative. Too bad.